Peridots and Rubies
by movved
Summary: A Humanstuck AU where our favourite little cat-girl has a very nice surprise on her birthday from a certain Crab. Rated T for Karkat's mouth.
1. Chapter 1

She tapped her fingers against the surface of the cafe's table. Twenty-five minutes. She'd been waiting twenty-five minutes for Karkat to arrive but she doesn't mind. She's just happy that he agreed to meet her today. Nepeta was seated right beside the window. It was a fairly warm day. A grin spread across the leo's face. For the last two years it had been raining all day on her birthday and she had to do indoor activities, which defiantly weren't as great as what she had planned for today. She could already picture it. The sun in her face as they walked down the paths of the small country town, holding his hand and maybe, just maybe, getting a kiss. She could feel her face burning at the thought of that and stared back out of the window. She glanced over at the old clock tower that had been built when this village was founded, half an hour now.

"Jeez how long does a girl have to wait?" Nepeta muttered to herself. She slouched down on the wooden seat and sighed. She was staring to get bored and wanted to leave really badly but at the same time she knew she couldn't.

The small brunette bent down and picked up her new lime school bag and reached for her phone, A white Iphone with a "Hello Kitty" cover which her dad had given her as an early birthday present. She should have gotten it today but there was a small incident with Equius and some milk which broke the last one. She entered her pass and dialled Karkat's number. She was a little surprised when he picked up almost instantly.

"I'm almost there, Just wait a fucking minute."

Nepeta opened her mouth to reply but he hung up on her as quickly as he answered. Her face screwed up in frustration. "But I _am _waiting Karkat." She yelled within herself. "I'm always waiting."

"God Damn It." He muttered, pausing every word. "God Fucking damn it!" His fast walk broke out in to a run. God knows how long had he been waiting at that shop. An hour, two hours? It doesn't matter now anyway, He got everything he needed, everything except running shoes. He bumped in to every person who was on this side of the street but he didn't really give a damn. As long as he got to his deranged feline friend everything would be fine. There! He could finally see the town square where Nepeta's favourite cafe "Little Cubes and Tea" was situated. He has no idea why she loves tea so much, coffee was a lot better in his opinion but he decided that because it was her birthday he'll buy her some tea, even though it was her idea in the first place. Her birthday, His cash he figured.

As he reached the cafe he began to slow down. A lot of people were staring at him but it's not like he isn't used to that. Around this village he was known as "The Vampire" because of her pale complexion, almost black hair and brown eyes that were more red than brown. Needless to say it pissed him off. People have learned the hard way not to say "Vampire" to his face, all except Kanaya. But when she said it didn't really anger him as much as the others. Kanaya was too nice of a person to get mad at. And it wasn't like she ever said anything bad it was usually "Your eyes are a simply beautiful shade Karkat, you ought to think of yourself a being lucky having such a unique eye colour" and then she would ramble on and on for what seems like forever.

The little bell at the top of the door rang as soon as Karkat opened it.

"Karkitty Over here!"

Karkat hated that nickname six years ago but it looks like she took a shine to it, It's growing on him too but it's just taking a little longer for him. He turned to see Nepeta standing up from her table in an olive green dress with blue leggings and sash. Damn was she cute but did her outfits colour ever differ? Once in a blue moon perhaps. Or, in her case a blue and green moon.

He walked slowly towards the table and took the seat right in front of her.

"Okay, just because this is your birthday does not give you the right to call me that, got it?" he said with a scowl.

All she could do was giggle and say "Fine, Karkitten!" with a huge grin on her face. Nepeta didn't seem at all mad about the half an hour delay, Karkat figured she was probably doodling in her notebook as usual. Her art is pretty good considering she'd never been to art school. Karkat remembers being at her house one time when they were little and her mother mentioning how the females in their family always had a creative mind.

"So what do you want today, the usual Nepeta?" Karkat looks up from his menu to see Jade Harley, a waitress and old friend.

"Of course, but this time it's on Karkitty over here, so it makes it a little more special!" Jade and Nepeta laughed while Karkat groaned, he knew he'd be paying and he really hoped that "The usual" wasn't anything too expensive.

"And what would you like, Karkitty?" Jade grinned mimicking the way Nepeta had said it when he first entered the cafe.

"Just a coffee and you know how I like it so don't even bother asking." He snapped, not a rude snap though, just a snap.

"Gotcha!" She gave a toothy grin and a wink then turned back to put in their orders.

Karkat turned to Nepeta and noticed her staring right at him. He resisted the urge to say "And what do you think you're looking at?" and by god was that urge strong. Instead, he brought his attention to the notebook that was lying on the table. He was right, she had been doodling.

"What's this?" he asked reaching towards the notebook however before he could even blink Nepeta snatched it off of the table.

"This? Just a new notebook nothing special!" She said, holding it with both hands in front of her. It was some shade of green with kitten stickers on it, it was obviously new as the stickers were still shiny.

"Can I see it?"

"What?" Nepeta tilted her head to the side in a playful manner.

"The notebook, can I see it?" He asked again, holding out his hand for the book.

"Well if you're not bind!" She teased, she loved to play these games to her it was like dangling a ribbon in front of a cat and finally letting it get the ribbon after a while. And Karkat was that kitten most of the time.

"You know what I mean."

"I'm afraid I don't follow." She beamed, Karkat was ready to snatch that ribbon right out of her dainty little hands.

"God damn it Nepeta, I know you know what I mean, can I look inside of it?" He expressed the word inside as if it would help him get his hands on her notebook.

Nepeta thought about it for a bit, until she finally said "No." This made Karkat a little annoyed because, and he would never admit this, he loved looking at her art. There was just something about it that made even him want to grin like an idiot. He didn't of course, but he wanted to. She put the notebook back in to her bag and Karkat folded his arms in a fake huff which made Nepeta giggle.

"Karkat you're an adult, aren't you?" She smiled.

"Of course! I'm a big boy don't you know?" Karkat responded sharply. He turned his head so that he was facing her and stuck his tongue out to prove how mature and grown up he was. Before he knew what happened there was a click, a flash and a new picture that showed Karkat's true beauty. Terezi would be so jealous she thought.

"Nepeta what the hell did yo-"

"It was really cute Karkat, I'm not deleting it!" she protested, not waiting for the end of his sentence.

"I'm not cute! That's you, you're the cute one!" Both Karkat and Nepeta blushed the moment they realized what he had just said.

There was an awkward moment of silence before Nepeta finally spoke up, announcing that she wouldn't be deleting the photo anytime soon. Not until it was on her facebook and had been set as his contact icon. There was a small argument about this but it had already been decided, the photo was staying and that was that. When Karkat admitted defeat Nepeta had the widest grin plastered on her face, a grin that would also be captured in a photo and set as a contact picture.

"Nep, I'll be right back, got to piss, when I come back I'll see what's holding Harley up."

"Oh! Okay, take your time!" She sounded confused when she said that. "What do you say to people when they tell you that they have to piss?"

"Think about it while I'm gone." He laughed a little bit and walked towards the men's room.

"Yes, because I'm defiantly going to think about what you say to someone when announce that they're going to piss." She mumbled to herself and picked up her phone. It really was a good picture, it looks like he's actually having fun for once and for him to be having fun with Nepeta and only her? Needless to say she was incredibly happy. She pulled out her notebook again and started to finish the drawing she was drawing earlier before Karkat came back. She loved to make short comic strips and had a fairly popular blog with them. Sometimes they would be about real life events and others they would just be silly, sad or cute. It was her dream to do something like this for a living. A few people found it silly and a waste of her talent but she found it as a perfect use of her talent, so what did it matter to them?

"Good, she's distracted, are you ready Jade? Is it ready?" Karkat whispered to the waitress.

"Karkat why are you making such a fuss?" Jade smiled "Plenty of people do this, it's not uncommon!"

"That's not what I'm worried about!" He said, sounding agitated "Wait, What am I saying? I'm not even worried. Not about this part anyway."

"Oh yes, I forgot about your little plan to-"

"Jade!" He snapped "Shut the fuck up or she might hear you, you moron."

All Jade could do was smile, Today Nepeta was going to receive a gift that she would never forget. Not in a million years.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Sorry for not updating this for a while, I had no idea what to write after this so chapter 2 is incredibly short. However I do know what I am doing for chapter 3 and I will start on it immediately.**

Terezi Pyrope sat at her computer desk scrolling down and reading her friends status. Nobody interesting is doing anything interesting as usual. Her scrolling came to a stop as soon as her eyes met a photo of a certain somebody. She had to look twice at the photo to make sure it was real. Karkat Vantas, acting like a happy little child instead of a big old grump? Something didn't seem right. She glanced down at the comments, nothing. Maybe Karkat hadn't seen it. She examined the picture closely, no fishy pixels. Damn, that girl must be good at editing.

What was her man doing with Nepeta? It just didn't make sense to her. There was no way that Karkat would ever be out in public with Nepeta on his own, let alone smile while doing so!

She walked over to her window and stared out over the town. She doesn't quite know why she does this as she can't see very far being nearsighted.

"Nepeta Leijon, what the hell are you up to?" She murmured. Nobody steals her guy and gets away with it. Nobody.


	3. Chapter 3

"Well you certainly took your time Karkat!" Nepeta commented as Karkat took his seat.

"Well I had to wake Harley up, she fell asleep and that's why our stuff hasn't been made." He lied, and it was fairly obvious he was lying. Nepeta sensed something fishy in what he said but she chose not to question it.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that Jade is narcoleptic, that must be a pain huh?"

"I don't know why you're asking me, I'm not the one with narcolepsy." He said with a flat tone. "In fact, I hardly ever get sleep."

"Oh, I didn't know that at all!" Nepeta commented sarcastically. "Sleep is a wonderful thing though!"

"I bet you take naps in the sun, like a cat." He laughed, only for her to tell him that she does in fact take naps in the sun and that she rather enjoyed it.

There was a small discussion on sleep patterns until Jade finally walked up with their order. She set down Karkat's order and then Nepeta's. It turned out that "The usual" was British tea and a biscuit. Jade winked at Karkat and mouthed the words "Good luck" At this point Karkat would have groaned but he really didn't want to give the game away, no it had to be the right time. The right time was a hard thing to judge though. What if he left it to late or what if he said it too early? These thoughts were racing through his mind.

"Karkat is there something bothering you?" Nepeta asked and brought her tea up to her lips, taking a small sip. "You've been staring at your coffee since Jade put it down!"

He snapped back in to reality and stared at her with a somewhat serious expression. "Yes, actually Nepeta something is bothering me."

Nepeta looked a little worried, maybe even a little upset when she asked him what was wrong.

"This is what's wrong." He gestured to the whole cafe.

"What do you mean?" She defiantly looked upset now.

"What I mean is." He paused, he couldn't look at her, she was confused and upset and he was nervous as hell. He could tell she was staring at him, and he knew Jade was too."What I mean is...it's your birthday and I haven't given you a gift yet."

She gave a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness, I thought you were going to say something else."

"_Yeah, me too." _Karkat thought, if he were talking to her over Trollian he would have been slapping himself silly. But he wasn't talking to her over a chat client, he was talking to her in a cafe and slapping himself would have been a very stupid thing to do so instead of slapping himself he reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a small box.

"Happy Birthday, Nepeta." He smiled, sliding the box across the table to her.

"It's even wrapped in kitty-cat wrapping paper!" She giggled.

"Yeah, we used this wrapping paper for my cousin and she's obsessed with cats too." He said as she carefully unwrapped it, making sure not to rip the paper, or perhaps it was the cats she was trying not too rip. Who really knows?

Once all paper had been removed and set to the side of the table Nepeta's green eyes met a small blue box. She lifted the lid to find a yellow post-it note covering the contents of the box. Her eyes lit up as she read Karkat's grey constantly capitalized writing on the note.

"So, how about it Nepeta?" Karkat asked her with a soft and serious tone of voice and a slightly blushing expression.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"


	4. Chapter 4

"But Dave, you don't understand!" She whined down the phone to a slightly irritated cool kid who probably had a slightly irritating headache.

"No Terezi, I do understand." He replied. "You're jealous because that feline friend of yours is out with that loud asshole of a guy you're crushing on."

"I'm not jealous!" she barked, which only proved she was jealous and defensive about it.

"Yeah okay, and I'm not the coolest guy you know."

"Ugh you're no help at all." And with that she hung up on him.

Dave Strider sighed and threw himself on to the couch in the apartment he shared with his older brother Dirk, and his best friend John. He took off his shades and set them on the coffee table in front of the previously mentioned couch.

"Dave?" The high and almost feminine, yet somehow still had a masculine tint, voice of the previously mentioned best friend and roommate called as he entered the room.

He quickly reached for his glasses before remembering that John had seen his eyes before and doesn't really care about them. Well, not as much as he cares about a Nic Cage movie although he probably doesn't care about anything as much as a Nic Cage movie.

"Sup?"

"Dave are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah I just got off the phone with Tez and she was moaning about how Vantass is out with that Nepeta chick I'm totally fine." He groaned while he reached for his shades and placed them on his face.

John managed to avoid laughing at Dave's nickname for his short and shouty friend (mostly because it isn't funny but it usually amuses John so let him have this one) and sat over on the couch beside him.

"Aw man that sucks, I thought they stopped dating a few months ago." He tried to reassure, it didn't exactly work and he saw that and added. "Jeez, girls can be such a pain sometimes!"

"Yeah, speaking of painful Girls-"

"No Dave, Vriska is not coming over again." John interrupted. "You guys should get along so well I don't understand why you don't like her."

"It's because of the things she's done to Tez and you know that." He stopped for a second and turned to his baby-faced roommate. "What if I ramble on to Terezi about liking the wicked witch of the webs but I can't make a move because she's dating you and make her jealous in return!"

"Dave that's horrible and stupid."

"It would work."

They argued about this for sometime before calling up Vriska and letting her in on the somewhat pointless plan which she was quite happy to be part of. Although, being called "Wicked Witch of the Webs" did result in a few harsh insults, it's such a shame only Strider and Egbert heard them.

While all that was happening down at the Strider residence, something else happened at "Little Cubes and Tea" something that was going to be very important to the cat and the crab, even if they didn't know it yet.

Nepeta was stunned at Karkat's sudden proposal. She had dreamed of this moment ever since she was about thirteen. Sure, she'd had boyfriends before, but there was always someone at the back of her mind. Of course, most people knew about this and it didn't really bother them. After all Nepeta was always a little too clingy when it came to relationships and they didn't really last long.

"Karkat of co-"

"Hold it right there you two!" A loud voice interrupted, the loud voice of a girl who often forgets to wear her glasses and was pointing at the wrong couple.

"Have we done something wrong Miss?" A scared stranger asked the meddlesome girl, who of course as we all know is Terezi Pyrope.

"Don't you Miss me Leijon!"

"Purrezi?" Nepeta said shyly, but loud enough to get her Role-Play partner's attention.

"Just a minute Nepeta I'm shouting at Nepeta." She paused for a bit before she realised she was at the wrong table, upon realizing that she walked over to their table.

"Hold it right there you two!" She shouted again, by now the whole cafe was staring, Jade wasn't too sure whether to come over or not. Karkat saw that and gave her a look that said "I can handle this, It's fine" and getting the message, she nodded.

"What the hell are you doing Terezi?" Karkat asked sternly, more confused than pissed off.

"I should be asking you the same thing!" With her oh so dramatic outburst out of the way she had quietened down just a tad.

"I think it's pretty fucking obvious what I'm doing Terezi."

"Well I clearly don't know do I?"

"Jesus Chri-"

"Can't you see we're on date Terezi?" Nepeta spoke up, making her answer clear, She and Karkat were now officially dating.

**AN: Shhhhhhhh I know "Shouty" isn't a word but let's keep that on the down low, okay?**

**And wow I can't believe you guys like this! I'm so happy! I'm getting a lot more confident with my writing while doing this and I'm going to say that you guys are the cause of that! So, thank you! C:**

**Also, School starts up for me tomorrow so expect updates to come a little quicker! That sounds silly I know, but I'm a lot more imaginative at school and less distracted at breaks.**


	5. AUTHORS NOTE! uvu

**((AN: Oh my gosh. I can't believe people actually like this, it's really bad in my opinion. But anyway, I'm really sorry for the lack of updates. I was planning on discarding this completely. But because some people actually like it, I've decided that I'm going to start writing it again once I have finished OTRT (Or perhaps during it, depending on how long it takes me to get my lazy butt in gear.) So yeah. I apologize for the unplanned hiatus I guess? **

**I hope you're all going to have a great Christmas by the way! uvu))**


End file.
